Keeping up with overall data growth: This is growth that not only continues exponentially, but that is also increasingly challenging from a management perspective because it is often dominated by the growth of unstructured data (such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Access databases).

Increasing infrastructure complexity: Windows application environments have become increasingly complex as, over time, each new application has been rolled out with its own server and storage support.

Ease of use: This is a legitimate user need and market ‘battlefield’ with increased focus from vendors and users.

Increased budgetary scrutiny: This is done with significant pressure to more effectively support operations, increase asset utilization, and improve information management while holding down costs across the board.